The Roanoke Star-Sentinel

Community | News | Per spect iveJanuary 22 - 28, 2010 NewsRoanoke.com

The Roanoke Star-SentinelPRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

WhISPER ONEMEDIA POSTMASTER: Dated material, please deliver by publication datewww.texastavern-inc.com

"We seat 1000 people...10 at a time"

114 W. Church Ave • 540-342-4825

Always Open - Downtown RoanokePAGE 2WEEKEND

4341 Starkey RoadRoanoke, VA540-774-4777

1376 Towne Square BlvdRoanoke, VA540-265-6550

50% Off

Diagnostic Testing

Call Huntington today. We’re nearby and affordable.

If your child is struggling in school, success starts here.•Certified Teachers•Customized, Individual Program of Instruction•Private Tutoring for SAT/PSAT/ACT Prep•Low Student to Teacher Ratios, Individual Instruction

Roanokers Corey and Jason Waters have a vested interest in the events going on in Haiti. The couple has adopted five Haitian children, including three sib-lings over the past few years. They also have one biological daughter of their own. The Wa-ters, who came here from Penn-sylvania last year, stayed in a Port-Au-Prince guesthouse for a month after jetting down to the Caribbean nation regarding adoption issues. They’ve been looking for indications that some of the people they know, including the biological parents of their adopted children, sur-vived the earthquake that may have killed 100,000 or more.

“We are actually sick about

a lot of people [there],” said Corey Waters, who had just run the Disney Marathon as part of a team with Tara Livesay, who runs a mission in Haiti, when word of the earthquake be-came known. They were raising money for Heartline Ministries, which hoped to buy an ambu-lance for their work in Haiti.

Waters said those looking to adopt Haitian children can trust the services offered by Heart-line (heartlineministries.org) – she won’t recommend any other agency at this point. With government offices destroyed, some Americans looking to

[Martin Luther King Day]

> CONTINUEDP2: Haitian Children

Marching in Memory

Photo Courtesy of the Roanoke TribuneLocal dignitaries and over 100 other Roanokers took part in a short march from the Martin Luther King Bridge to First Baptist Church on Monday afternoon to commemorate the fallen Civil Rights leader. The march was organized by the local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. For more on the SCLC’s fifteenth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Banquet and their annual awards, see Page 2.

New County Chairman Promises

Transparency

The vote last week to make Joe “Butch” Church Chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Su-pervisors was viewed as an upset by some who anticipated that the custom of rotating the chair-manship amongst the five mem-bers would be observed once again. However, Church says that “I was not surprised by the vote but I never took for granted it was going to happen until it happened.” The other votes came from Charlotte Moore (D) and Ed Elswick (R), who both claim that they are hoping for more bipartisan leadership under the new chairman.

Church did not want to spec-ulate as to why Elswick cast the

> CONTINUEDP3: Church

Local Teens Organize Relief Trip to New OrleansSchools and churches often

organize mission work groups for young people, but rarely do we hear of young people them-selves planning and fund-raising for a worthy project. Last sum-mer sixteen-year-old Jonathan Mitchell and his friend, Kaki Comer, started to talked about their concerns about the prob-lems that continue to plague New Orleans post Katrina. They decided they would like to go and do what they could to help. The more they considered it, the more they were convinced they should act on their feelings.

They began talking about it with their classmates at North Cross. Eleven more students committed to join Jonathan and Kaki in their venture. Jonathan’s older sis-ter Lindsay and her husband, Josh Eernisse, agreed to go as chaperones. Jonathan con-tacted the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, who supplied a house for the group to use and set up their work project. Now all they needed was money to finance the trip.

Josh works at a print shop, and with his help the group produced tee-shirts with NOLA on the back. “NO” stands for New Orleans while “LA” stands for Louisiana.The “O” is a picture of the world; the “L” de-picts a map of the state. They sold 170 shirts at a profit of $7.00 each. This income, their own personal donations, plus support from

Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church and other fundraisers gave them the funds they needed to go to New Orleans and work De-cember 18th through December 23rd.

Their work project was to help rebuild an apartment building with three units. The owner, Mr. Hammond, said he had to go into the attic and dig a hole in the roof so he could be rescued when the flood waters filled his house. Unfortunately, he had not received any funds from FEMA because the building was not a one-family unit. The New York Times interviewed him because of his efforts to raise money for rebuilding by collecting and selling aluminum cans.

Jonathan remembered hearing his story and was pleased to be able to help him. The group of students painted, sanded walls, installed drywall in the bathrooms and began tiling the floors.

Jonathan said the only scary thing that happened occurred the first night they were there. As they left the house to buy groceries for their stay, one of the girls noticed a pilot light burning on the gas stove. She did not understand about gas stoves and pilot lights, and thinking someone left the stove on, she blew it out. When

they returned, the strong smell of gas alerted them and they had to stay out of the building

45 minutes for the air to clear.They also had a pleasant surprise in the

airport as they awaited their flight to New Orleans. A man asked the meaning of the logo on their shirts. When they explained about their mission trip, he wanted to do something to reward their commitment to help. He happened to be a referee for the New Orleans Bowl, and arranged to get them tickets to the game on Sunday, De-cember 20th. No “small” good deed ever goes unrewarded!

Pictured are those who participated in the project with Jonathan and Kaki, Emily Armentrout, Phillip Call, Emily Florin, Catherine Jessee, Hallie Martin, Morgan Moskal, Lauren Oddo, Amy Putnam, David Quinn, Spencer Shaff and Matt Watson.

Council Tables Vote on Storm Water Fees

It sounded like a good idea and all agreed much work is needed when it comes to storm water management issues – but now might not be the time. That was the gist of the matter on Tuesday when Roanoke City Council voted 7-0 to table a vote on an ordinance to set storm wa-ter management fees that would affect both residential properties and city businesses.

About a dozen residents and civic leaders came forward to express reservations about the additional cost to citizens and businesses.

City Engineer Phil Schirmer spoke to the group, saying the proposed fee would cost resi-dents $3 a month ($36 per year), while the average business would be charged a fee of about $33 per month.

He called Roanoke “one of the most flood threatened commu-nities in Virginia.” Schirmer said the city has about 60 million dol-lars in storm water projects on the drawing board. “It will take us decades to correct the prob-lem,” he warned. Schirmer said other localities around the state have imposed fees on homes and businesses to help mitigate storm water problems and im-prove water quality; he claimed the fees proposed here are lower than those found elsewhere.

Since the fee amount is based on the size of impervious sur-faces (e.g. parking lots) owned

> CONTINUEDP2: Council

Family with Adopted Haitian Children Concerned About Homeland

Jessica Waters with her Haitian brothers and sisters on the first day of school. L to R Christina, Virlande, Erica, Cliford, and Jessica holding Emmanuel.

PerilPoverty’sP4– Whether in Roanoke or haiti, great and unexpect-ed need can make it difficult to respond. It shouldn’t.

The OathTakingP6– Bob McDonnell be-comes Virginia’s 71st Gov-ernor amid a great amount of pomp and ceremony in Richmond.

Knightshot

P7– Cave Spring finds differ-ent ways to stay undefeated in the River Ridge District.

Golf?Library

P9– Roanoke Library Co-ordinator River Laker con-tinues to find ever creative way to engage Roanokers.

Get the Roanoke

Star - Sentinel delivered to your doorstep every week for only $44 per year!

[email protected] Box 8338 Roanoke, VA 24014

By Mary Jo [email protected]

Co. Supervisor Butch Church

Hayden Hollingsworth

| The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 NewsRoanoke.com

curves.com

Join now and get 30 days free.

At Curves you’ll find the support and guidance you need to reach your goals - all with the benefit of our 30-minute strength training/cardio circuit and trainers.

Offer based on first visit enrollment, minimum 12 mo. c.d./e.f.t program. New members only. Not valid with any other offer. Valid only at participating locations through 2/27/10. © 2010 Curves International, Inc.

It's never too late to become the woman you've always wanted to be.

540 344-10403505B Franklin Rd., SW

Roanoke , Va 24014

540 444-03671457 W. Main StSalem, VA 24153

540 966-3122116 Kingston Dr

Daleville, VA 24083

540 563-53187216 Williamson RdRoanoke, VA 24019

Since 1984 GOLDSMITH JEWELERS 2203 Crystal Spring Avenue

985-3700“The Cure for the Common Gold.”

43 years Expertise

The Country Store Deli on Starkey Road caters

to your needs. Offi ce meetings, tailgates, parties, any event,

serving 1 to 1,000. Go to countrystoredeli.com to place an order today or

call 774-6875.

Great food at a great value, homecooked.

NEW YEARS SPECIALS!Go to countrystoredeli.com to place an

order today or call 774-6875

2 eggs,bacon or sausage,hash browns, toast or biscuit,

$2.99, served all day.

Grilled Cheese and large potato wedges, Fried Bologna Burger and large Potato wedges or Jumbo Hot

Dog and large potato wedgesOnly a $1.99!

©2009 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

Time for a Second Opinion? Put Our Experience to Work.

The Meridian Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

Team’s Financial Advisors Combined Experience of over 50 Years

N. Edward Link, Jr.Senior Vice President- Wealth ManagementPortfolio ManagerFinancial Planning Specialist23 Years of Experience

Michael B. KempSenior Vice President- Wealth ManagementPortfolio ManagerFinancial Planning Specialist17 Years of Experience

213 South Jefferson Street, Suite 1600Roanoke, VA 24011(540) 345-1555 • (888) 449-4449www.fc.smithbarney.com/meridiangroupsb

Judith A. HonakerRegistered Client Service Associate20+ Years of experience

Cynthia H. ShivelyFinancial AdvisorFinancial Planning Associate10 Years of Experience

Jodie S. WertzClient Service Associate2 years of Experience

Shaftman Performance Hall, Jefferson Center | For tickets, please call 540-982-2742 | www.operaroanoke.org

Kallen EsperianSunday, January 31st • 2:30 pm

Kallen esperian

Legendary soprano Kallen Esperian

has been one of the world’s most

sought-after singers for over two

decades. Since winning the Luciano

Pavarotti International Voice

Competition in 1985, she has been

a regular fixture at the world’s

greatest opera houses, including the

Metropolitan Opera, La Scala,

Covent Garden and Vienna. As one of

“The Three Sopranos,” she has shared

her great artistry, beauty and charisma

with millions of television viewers

throughout the world.

Tom Fame, a Roanoke al-lergist based at Lewis Gale, has been to Haiti more than 25 times since 1996. He doesn’t go on medical missions, rath-er Fame has worked with his church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Salem, to raise money for new schools. He’s also inter-ested in infrastructure projects like water systems and in fact is now enrolled in a Master of Public Health program through Johns Hopkins to work on the issue of potable water.

“It’s a shame - over the past five years I’ve seen things get better and better,” said Fame, profiled in the Star-Sentinel last year about his book, “The Lam-bi’s Call: A Haitian Journey,” which he released as a fundrais-er. He has seen and heard the

reports about communication problems post-earthquake. “It’s always hard to get in touch with people [there], although lately it’s been better.”

Fame’s school projects are in the countryside, not in Port-Au-Prince, where phone ser-vice is still spotty. Cinder block buildings found in Haiti “that aren’t very well reinforced” contributed to the scope of the disaster said Fame. “Why right under the city?” was his thought when he first heard the news of the earthquake. It was centered in Port-Au-Prince.

“Couldn’t it be out in the ocean, or in the fields? That is-land’s been ripped in half, right where the city is. Why, on top of everything else?”

The biggest problem all along has been improving the infra-structure according to Fame. “Things that they did to improve it have been set back.” Perhaps there is a silver lining mused Fame; “This might be the time to clean out slums, the shanty villages and other undesirable

neighborhoods - and start over again. They can put something up that’s not just thrown togeth-er … maybe better planned. But it’s going to take a lot of [scarce] resources.”

That’s where the interna-tional community may come in. Even before the 7.0 quake, Fame noted that “a lot of people said this was Haiti’s last chance. Most people in Haiti realize the urgency of doing it right this time.”

“Resist the urge to go there and help out,” advised Fame. “You don’t want to go down there … unless you have some special skills.” He suggests that people contribute money in-stead, especially to long-term infrastructure projects like fish farming, something he’s getting ready to tackle after potable wa-ter.

Fame has always been im-pressed with the feeling of com-munity demonstrated by the Haitian people -- even when they talk about just moving from misery to poverty. Short

term he figures that spirit will be a saving grace. “They [will] get together and work hard. It’s amazing what people power will do. They will pull these crumbled blocks out and re-build structures.”

See Haiti.olphsalem.org for more on Fame, Haiti and his book, “The Lambi’s Call.”

Local Haitian Missionary Concerned About Setbacks

Tom Fame, “The Lambi’s Call.”

Hundreds of people gathered at the Holi-day Inn-Valley View last Friday to celebrate the fifteenth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Banquet. This year’s theme was “Moving Forward in Difficult Times” which focused on the belief that injustice any-where is a threat to justice everywhere. The Roanoke Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, presided over by Mac McCadden, sponsored the event.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed …We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Leo Dow, Jr., reciting from memory and in a booming voice, delivered the famous lines from the speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Keynote speaker was the Rev. William Avon Keen, State President of the SCLC.

He spoke on the topic I have seen the afflic-tion of my people, which highlighted the suffering, hurt, shame and sickness of the people in the United States in addition to our current healthcare problems. “We have dropouts, drugs, poverty, more prisons in the state of Virginia than [other] state in-stitutions. There is still hope and the Lord hears the cries of the righteous.”

Dr. Perneller Chubb-Wilson, founder of the Roanoke Chapter of the SCLC, present-ed the “Drum Major for Justice Awards,” to seven people. Notable among the winners was Dr. Frank Cotter, co-founder of Project Access of Roanoke Valley, a physician driv-en, community supported, patient centered program, which exists to arrange and coor-dinate comprehensive healthcare service for the low-income uninsured in the valley.

“He is the meanest man I have ever met and I love him with all my heart,” said

Chubb-Wilson affectionately. She is grateful that Cotter diagnosed and treated her glau-coma. Without him, she said, she would not have sight today.

Ruth Gaither explained that she was ex-periencing vision problems and also went to see Cotter. Although she told him she had no money, he told her not to worry -- he would treat her anyway. When she asked for the bill for the glaucoma surgery and follow-up care she had received, Cotter told her he had written the whole amount off. With tears in her eyes, Gaither said, “he is just a wonderful, wonderful man.”

The banquet guests were also treated to several solos by Donna Pride, as well as an audience sing-along to “America The Beau-tiful.”

SCLC Holiday Banquet Honors Local Heroes

Precipitation will continue into Thursday night, before ending midday Friday. Friday afternoon will be cloudy and chilly with highs only in the upper 30s. We should see more sunshine on Saturday and it will not be as cold with highs back into the middle 40s. However, late Saturday night through Monday morning, another powerful piece of energy will swing overhead, bringing more rain to the region. Sunday will be a tad warmer with temps in the upper 40s. By Monday afternoon, skies should slowly clear and it will be warmer still with highs back into the lower 50s.

by a business, a handful of larger concerns – like Roanoke Regional Airport – could be looking at annual fees well into the thousands of dollars. “Bring us to the table and talk to us,” said airport commis-sion chair Jay Turner, who spoke about an annual storm water fee that could amount to $200,000 annually for the airport, based on his calculations. Turner said the Airport Commission was caught by surprise concerning the proposed storm water fees.

Several council members and speakers felt the need for storm water management should be looked at regionally, rather than hav-ing Roanoke City shoulder the load. “Are we the only ones doing this?” asked Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers.

Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce president Joyce

Waugh said the city would be “at a competitive disadvantage” if it imposed fees on businesses while other localities did not.

City Council candidate Robert Craig, who announced his can-didacy on Monday, claimed that Roanoke “has neglected the storm drain system for 30 years.” Looming in the background are state and federal mandates concerning storm water management and water quality; Schirmer said other localities in the state have been fined for not meeting standards that are getting tougher all the time.

“I think we have a lot more work to do,” said council member David Trinkle before the 7-0 vote to table any ordinance on storm water fees for now.

> Council From page 1

By Gene [email protected]

adopt Haitian children fear that it may be months or even years before the process gets back on track. The services most take for granted here – public service agencies, utilities, postal service – are a rarity in Haiti. “We don’t understand what they don’t have -- on a good day in Haiti,” said Waters. “Now none of that exists.”

The Waters planned to stop having children after their daughter was born, but then decided to adopt. “We pretty much looked at every country,” said Corey Waters, who home schools one of the children. “We liked Haiti because it was close. That meant we could af-

ford to bring our child back to visit their native country. We felt that was pretty important.”

Christina (then 5) was the first adopted. “We had never seen poverty like we saw in Hai-ti. We were totally blown away. [We wondered] how can this ex-ist only a 90 minute flight from Miami?” Nevertheless, Waters said she and her husband “fell in love with the country,” especial-ly the optimism and resiliency of its people. Those traits will be needed now after the ordeal of the past few weeks, and going forward in the near future.

Having a second Haitian child in the family made sense; the couple also wanted to adopt

a special needs child. “There re-ally is no health care in Haiti,” said Waters. “All of the children have learning disabilities or other challenges to an extent. The severe early childhood mal-nutrition most Haitian children experience compounds the situ-ation.” Several of their children have emotional and temper is-sues that may have come from living in an orphanage.

The Waters eventually “felt called” to also adopt the three sibling children. “My husband was like – you’ve got to be kid-ding. Nobody has six kids,” she chuckles. Erica, Virlande, Clifford and Emmanuel have joined Christina and the Wa-

ters’ biological daughter, now at Northside High School.

Haitian adoption “can be a lengthy [process],” Waters ad-vises. That’s in part because documents are written in long hand cursive – or on typewrit-ers. A single mistake means the process has to be started all over again. “It’s very haphazard.” During their first two adop-tions the Haitian government was overthrown twice. Despite all the obstacles the family has faced, there are five children in Roanoke who are very grateful that Corey and Jason Waters opened their home to them.

> Haitian Children From page 1



By Carla [email protected]

NewsRoanoke.com 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |

C & EGun & Knife Traders Show

Jan. 23-24SAT 9 - 5 SUN 10 - 5

BUY, SELL & TRADE$1.00 Off One Adult Admission

Free Parking • Adults $7

C & E Gun Shows, 4225 Fortress Dr., Blacksburg, VA 24060 (540) 953-0016

SALEM CIVIC CENTER

www.cegunshows.com

RSS

I-81 to Exit 141. From the exit ramp, take Rt. 419 South. Continue to follow signs towards Salem Civic Center.

You are not alone in hospice and our experienced and loving staff will care for you as family. Our comprehensive care provides a full range of services including:

• Long term employees with experience in palliative pain & symptom management, emotional support and grief counseling

• Spiritual and bereavement care from a perspective that strengthens your faith, brings encouragement and inspires hope

• Grief support groups for adults and children

We’re There When You Need Us Most.

24/7 Referrals... Same Day Admissions

GSH0909-10.875x5.38 Roanoke StarSentinel Ad.indd 1 9/9/09 2:11 PM

Retired Marine Corps Colo-nel and long-time citizen watch-dog, Bob Craig announced on Tuesday that he will run for a seat on Roanoke City Coun-cil. Craig says he is concerned about the precarious position of the city’s finances after 10 years of what he considers, “ill-conceived spending that has compromised the ability of the city to fund its core government functions.”

Craig says that while he has been contacted by the City Re-publican party about running as a GOP candidate that he is still considering all his options relative to receiving any party endorsement or running as an independent.

Shortly after Craig’s an-nouncement, Roanoke City Council convened a session to get public input and vote on in-creasing taxes to raise $60 mil-lion in new revenue to fix and upgrade Roanoke’s storm water drain system - an idea that coun-cil ultimately decided to “table for now.” Craig says the only reason council has to consider raising such taxes is because the city has neglected the drainage

system for decades and instead has spent the money on lower priority items such as parks and recreation master plans, civic center expansions, etc.

Craig says he has focused his concern about Roanoke on “fi-nancial responsibility,” stating that “the city government does not prioritize its spending, ends up buying luxury items then has little left to fund its core functions, such as storm water drains and schools. The tax-payers should not be hit up for more taxes or face service cuts every time the budget comes up short.”

Craig also says he wants to establish better financial sup-port for the school system. He believes that, “city schools have improved their performance and efficiency during the last few years. Yet, when the schools run efficiently and save money, the city penalizes them by counting that savings against them in the following year’s budgeting pro-cess, rather than allowing them to use that extra money to im-prove programs.”

Craig is quick to point out that his entire working career

has been in leadership and fi-nancial management. He com-manded four artillery units in Vietnam, and spent his last 17 years on active duty as a finan-cial manager, including serving as the chief financial officer of two Marine Corps bases with budgets the size of Roanoke’s.

Following his military career, Craig was a senior financial ex-ecutive with the U.S. Treasury Department and an adjunct faculty member in financial management and organization-al management at several col-leges and universities in Hawaii, Mississippi, and Maryland.

Craig to Run for City Council

Council Candidate Bob Craig.

deciding vote for him instead of Republican Richard Flora, other than to say that the “un-derlying tone is that citizens all around Roanoke County wanted a nonpartisan local government.”

Church, who began his 11-year stint on the Board as a Republican, is now an Independent primarily because of an incident back in 2005. According to Church, “a member of the Roanoke County Republican Committee came into my personal office [at his place of business] saying ‘you’re rocking the boat; we need a more solid Republican vote’” and that Church was not fol-lowing the committee’s direction. Church felt that was uncalled for and asked the member to leave his business; he recollects saying that “no one tells me how to vote other than my constituents.”

Changing his party status to “Independent” re-flects his strong conviction that “I will be an inde-pendent person and vote what I think is best for my district and the entire county.”

There are three issues he has voted against that, according to Church, have frustrated many citi-zens who now want new leadership on the Board. He feels people want “not only to be heard, but actually listened to,” and he says he plans to be one

of the people doing the listening.• Walmart / Clearbrook - The Board had passed

a “Clearbrook community overlay” in which Church says “I felt we gave our word not to build [a facility] over 50,000 sq. ft.,” primarily because of safety with a school so close to that area.”

• Keagy Village – “Again, I felt we had a very intense disruption of the community as it was.”

• Regional Jail and the Asphalt Plant – Church claims he was not entirely against these propos-als except the asphalt plant was proposed in the wrong location. Regarding the jail, it was “the manner in which it was handled –some behind-closed-doors meetings, and too much discussion that wasn’t in the public eye.”

It comes as no surprise then that Church says “the watchword for my leadership is ‘transpar-ency,’ and to restore the citizens’ faith and trust in representation on our Board.” Church has ob-served a recurrent theme with unhappy constitu-ents who believe their opinions are not likely to be heard by the Board – that many issues “looked like a done deal” to them. Church is disturbed by that outlook, saying “It should never be a done deal before the fact.”

The issue of land use garners Church’s full at-tention; “Any time [there is a] vote on land use I try to honestly put myself in that person’s shoes to see if they will be adversely affected.” Church would not directly comment on the Burkholder case pending in Roanoke City, but did say that “it [eminent domain] is not an option” in his eyes.

A native Roanoker, Butch Church was born in Roanoke City, had a business in Salem City and lives in Roanoke County. He grew up very poor; his father left the family when he was only two years old. When he was 21, Church had “hot wa-ter put in my mom’s house,” something he is grate-ful he could do for her. He speaks highly of his late mother Ruby, saying she only had a “fourth grade education and was smarter than anyone I’ve ever known – she taught me so much. Anything good I am is because of her.”

Church has spent many years coaching and refereeing several sports, with basketball topping the list; his career began as a basketball player for Jefferson High School. When his two sons were young, he coached Rec league sports nonstop for ten years. He also traveled the country as a referee for Division I college basketball for over 25 years,

often working Virginia Tech Games in the Metro Conference.

These days, Church’s favorite pastime is golf; he has a group of golfing buddies he has kept up with for years. In addition to staying active, Church sees the sport as a way to really get to know someone. “If I really want to evaluate someone for a post, I will learn more about that individual during a round of 18 holes of golf than I would knowing this person for six months.”

He adds “you can tell who’s honest – seeing who will move the ball with their foot … what kind of temperament they have… how they han-dle adversity… Do they throw clubs?” He laughs saying, “Golf will make you go insane if you let it!”

Looking to the year ahead as Chairman of the County Board, Church acknowledges there will be challenges. “This year will be a tough budget year… I am very confident that we will work through it – we’ll be fine. Over the years Roa-noke County has positioned itself to deal with the toughest of times and we will.”

> Church From page 1

By Cheryl [email protected]

Roanoke attorney Ray Ferris has made it official, announc-ing his intention to seek one of three Democrat Party slots for City Council in a primary on March 2. There are four candidates in all, including in-cumbent council member Da-vid Trinkle, Bill Bestpitch and Valerie Garner. The general election is May 4.

Ferris, a native Roanoker, went to law school at the University of Richmond af-ter graduating from Roanoke College. He worked in various family businesses and taught math at Patrick Henry High School before focusing on his law career. Ferris, a former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Roanoke City, is now a partner in the firm of Ferris, Eakin & Thomas.

The married father of three

touted his “outgoing, decisive personality” as an asset for his candidacy. “This is the first time I’ve run for office,” said Ferris. “I believe the council could use some leadership and good common business sense. I believe I have some-thing to offer.” He also wants to “maintain the upward course of the schools, to en-sure that adequate funding is there.” A well-educated work-force helps keep Roanoke in the mix when businesses look to expand, said Ferris.

He is also against imposing any storm water management fee, as City Council discussed on Tuesday: “Now is not the time.” Ferris said storm water should be a regional issue in any case.

Ferris noted that the early response to his campaign has

been “encouraging.” He has no particular bone to pick with the current council makeup (Rupert Cutler and Gwen Ma-son are not seeking reelection) but spoke of the “immense” challenges faced by the city, “given the current economic times.”

Ferris Announces Run for Council

Ray Ferris touts his leader-ship skills.


Congressman Bob Goodlatte has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder request-ing that the Department of Justice reject the request made by former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to transfer convicted murderer Jens Soering to Ger-many. The transfer of Soering to Germany would mean that he could conceivably serve two years or less of his two life sen-tences for the brutal murders of Derek and Nancy Haysom.

“I find the request made by former Governor Kaine, before he left office, to transfer Jens So-ering to be reprehensible,” said Rep. Goodlatte. “Virginia’s ju-dicial process tried Soering for

these crimes and he was found guilty. Transferring Soering to Germany would undermine the judicial process in Virginia and would undermine any sense of justice the family of the victims and the residents of Central Vir-ginia have gained by his convic-tion.”

Pursuant to the International Prisoner Transfer Program the Department of Justice could consider transferring Jens Soer-ing to Germany if the German government and the governor of the Commonwealth of Vir-ginia approved the transfer. Kaine’s request and the German government’s willingness to ac-cept the transfer of Soering now

leaves the decision in the hands of the Department of Justice.

“The nature of these murders was brutal and the public out-cry over the potential transfer has already been great in the affected community of Central Virginia, and I have heard from many constituents who are out-raged by the request including some who have been personally involved with or touched by the case,” continued Rep. Good-latte. “I hope DOJ will weigh these factors heavily and will reject the transfer of Soering to Germany.”

The full text of Goodlatte’s letter is available online at www.NewsRoanoke.com

Goodlatte Urges US Attorney to Reject Soering Transfer

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) has named Delegate William H. Cleaveland (R-Bo-tetourt) to the Committees on Courts of Justice and Militia, Police and Public Safety.

“Delegate Cleaveland has the knowledge, background and commitment to serve as an ef-fective member of these key committees,” Speaker How-ell noted. “As a new member Delegate Cleaveland will bring an important new perspective to the deliberations of these committees. As a practicing at-torney who regularly served

as a substitute judge, I know Delegate Cleaveland will bring tremendous expertise to both of his critical committee assign-ments.”

The Committee on Courts of Justice considers matters relat-ing to the Commonwealth’s ju-diciary, including the nomina-tion of judges and justices. The Committee considers criminal law and civil matters, including contracts, juvenile and domes-tic relations, property and con-veyances, and wills and estates. One of the oldest of the House’s standing committees, in recent years, it has had the busiest

docket.The Committee on Militia,

Police and Public Safety con-siders matters concerning the Virginia National Guard; the organization and jurisdiction of local police and sheriffs’ depart-ments; the regulation of fire-arms; emergency preparedness; homeland security, and correc-tional institutions.

Elected to the House of Del-egates in 2009, Delegate Cleave-land represents the 17th Dis-trict, which includes portions of Botetourt and Roanoke Coun-ties and the City of Roanoke.

Cleaveland Named to Key State Committees

By Stuart [email protected]

PersPective | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 NewsRoanoke.com

St. John’s is downtown at Jefferson & Elm. Phone: 540-343-9341. Surf: www.stjohnsroanoke.org.

Come to The Gathering Sunday Evenings. Experience worship and formation that are relaxed, relevant, and ready when you are.

The Gathering liturgy is contemplative, the music is both ancient and new, with hand drums, guitar, mandolin and fiddle. Empty nesters, families, singles, professionals, jeans, and flip flops are all welcome here!

5:00 p.m. The Gathering Eucharist. The Gathering is a casual, acoustic service with communion. Come as you are.

5:45 p.m. Fellowship Dinner. Enjoy a free dinner prepared by our parishioners each week.

6:15 - 7:15 p.m. Faith Formation Courses. We offer a wide variety of courses for adults with up to three options each week, including Bible study, Faith Intergenerational Conversations, and the Theology of U2.

Also Available during each session: • Fun and faith-inspiring Youth Group for middle & high school • Faith Café Class for K-5th grade • Children’s Choir • Nursery Care for those preschool and younger

The Gathering Schedule

What draws people to move to this beautiful valley

we call home? Is it the gran-deur of the mountains, or per-haps the friendly nature of the people who inhabit this area? In September, I celebrated my twenty-sixth year in Roanoke and I can honestly say that none of the aforementioned reasons were even contemplated when I decided to migrate south from New York. My motivation was spurred by a simple, basic hu-man emotion; fear.

Prior to becoming a carpet-bagger, I was employed as a de-livery person by a dental lab in Long Island. Each day I would load up my vehicle with small bags of repaired false teeth and return those choppers to the dentists who had sent them (with me) to be fixed. The re-quirements for this vocation were simple; I must have a car, a valid driver's license and a face that matched the likeness on said license. My interview consisted of chatting with the office manager (the owner's at-tractive daughter) and sharing my deep seeded aspiration to transport dentures. I was hired on the spot.

Several months passed and I was building a reputation as Long Island's preeminent "False Tooth Fairy." Single and far removed from any en-tanglements, I began to take an interest in the woman who had hired me. Close in age, we would spend the morning hours bagging teeth and listen-ing to each other's sad stories. "Linda" had recently separated from her husband and was try-ing to move on from a marriage

that barely survived one year. Eventually, I began to have ro-mantic feelings for Linda and when I presented her with a bag containing Mrs. Rose Mandle-baum's teeth with a single rose pressed between the bridge-work, our romance was on.

Noting the often ignored office com-mandment "Thou shalt not fish off of the company pier," Linda and I remained discreet about our develop-ing relationship, never sharing even a knowing wink during work hours. Things were going along swimmingly until Linda invited me to help her house-sit her parent's home one weekend. What appeared to be a harmless evening of tele-vision and popcorn became a night that still appears in my most disturbing dreams.

Seated on her parent's liv-ing room couch, Linda and I were watching a college bas-ketball game on TV when the doorbell rang. We had ordered a pizza earlier in the evening and Linda grabbed her purse and answered the door. In the darkened doorway I could see a huge, hulking figure speaking to Linda in a loud voice, and worse, there was no pizza.

The shadowy figure was Lin-da's estranged spouse "Scott", who was dropping by in hopes of reconciling with his wife. I began to rise slowly from my seat, hoping not to be noticed, when Scott spotted me lunged forward. With escape in mind

I bolted towards the first door I could find. Unfortunately the door I picked lead to the base-ment and there was no time to for a plan B. With my fate close

behind me, I raced down the steps and immediately no-ticed an absence of any windows. I was trapped and a very large and angry man was barreling down the stairs after me. Searching for any type of exit I opened yet another door that lead to Linda's brother's bedroom, again no windows.

Bracing my back against the door, I could feel the wood of the entrance splintering on my head as Scott attempted to ram his way in. Stepping to my left, I moved clear of the door when Scott finally broke through, crashing to the carpet, and al-lowing me to escape through the jagged hole that he had cre-ated. Flying through the front door I began to run for my life.

Remembering that there was a fire station located at the entrance of the sub-division, I sprinted through the streets with Scott in hot pursuit. Ar-rived at the firehouse, steps be-fore Scott, I was given shelter by a group of amused, but sleepy firefighters. When I was able to catch my breath I called Linda's parent's number to make sure that she was alright. To my dis-may, Scott answered the phone informing me that he had my jacket, wallet and keys before abruptly hanging up. Fear-ing the worst, I summoned the police to escort me back to

the house, praying that Linda would be unharmed. When we arrived Linda was fine and Scott was sitting on the lawn in tears. To quell Scott's fury Linda was able to convince him that she and I were just friends and that he would have to fix the door before her par-ents came home. When Scott apologized to me and asked me to help him fix the door, I ner-vously agreed.

The next day was spent hid-ing the hammer and hand-ing Scott the bluntest tools I could find while listening to him pine for my soon to be ex-girlfriend. The following week I fielded numerous calls from Linda seeking a rendez-vous and from Scott who was now my new best friend. I also received a call from Arthur Hecht, the owner of a minor league baseball team in Salem, Virginia called the Redbirds. Arthur had interviewed me for the Assistant General Manager position with the team and was now offering me the job. The offer could have been for ten bucks and a box of batting practice balls and I would have seized it immediately.

Although I am technically and accidental southerner, I have grown to love this area, regardless of the frightful cir-cumstances which delivered me. My fishing days long over, I now prefer to steer clear of the pier, my pole gathering dust in my basement at home.

Not the Best reason to Come to Roanoke

Jon Kaufman

It was dark and deserted in the downtown parking lot as I got out of my car.

A large man, his face covered against the cold, confronted me as I stood. “Do you believe there’s a God?” he asked. Quick-ly assessing what might be about to happen, I said, “Yes, I do.” “Do you think God is good?” he shot back. Not knowing what else to answer, again I said, “Yes, I do.” “I hope so,” he mumbled, “because I need help. Will you help me?”

“Sorry, but I can’t,” I replied and then hurried into the building.

I didn’t enjoy the sumptuous dinner, the chilled wine, and spirited conversation of that night. My en-counter left me un-nerved. I had let my fear, which may have been justified, take away a bit of who I profess to be.

How risky would it have been to ask him to walk into the building with me and dis-cuss his problem? Not likely to have been robbed, or worse, with a lot of people standing close by me. My brain was so frozen I couldn’t even ask him if he knew where the Rescue Mis-sion was. Suppose I had gotten out my wallet to give him a few dollars and he had snatched it from me? All I would have lost was money, credit cards, and my driver’s license.

He was homeless, I suspect. I have some knowledge of people in that situation, having met and talked at length with a lot of them. Many are not mentally well; many have gotten into their lifestyle after repetitively bad choices; many are addicted to one substance or another. That being said, except for a lot of lucky breaks, I could be among that number. I know that to be true, and yet, I was too fearful to deal with his simple question, “Will you help me?”

We fear what we don’t know, a wise friend commented to me when I recounted the event. We also fear what we think we know and that can negatively influ-ence judgment, as it did mine that night. After my meeting I went to my car wondering if he would still be there. If so, I had decided to take a different ap-proach. He was long gone, but when I found myself relieved that the windows had not been broken and my GPS was in the car, I realized my soul was still awfully small.

Homelessness comes in many forms. Most of the street men and women with whom I have dealt have been out there for a long time. It’s not hard to look

the other way or pass by on the other side.

A friend of mine tells the sto-ry of the pastor of large down-town church. In that city, there are thousands of homeless in the neighborhood of his parish. Frequently, members have to step over unconscious drunks in the parking lot. One particular Sunday, one was draped across the main entrance steps. He was dressed in the usual collection of plastic bags and rags; he had

soiled himself. When the service started, the minister had not appeared. Everyone sat, becoming in-creasingly nervous as to where he might be. The back doors opened with a bang and down the aisle came the drunk, stag-

gering toward the front of the church.

He lurched into the pulpit and surveyed the congregation. He took off his filthy hat which had covered his face and tossed his dirty coat aside. It was the pastor. All he said was, “Well, I guess you know what I’m going to preach about this morning.”

Contrast our homeless, in-cluding my parking lot meeting, with the homeless in Haiti. The poorest nation in the western hemisphere, today many of them would consider being homeless in America a dream come true. David Brooks of The New York Times said an astounding, but true thing, in relation to Haiti. “It’s not about the earthquake. It’s about poverty.”

The San Francisco earthquake of 1989 was 7.1 on the Richter scale; the Haitian disaster was 7.0. There were 62 deaths and 12,000 left homeless in the Cali-fornia event. Only one structure had a catastrophic failure—the Oakland bay bridge. We know how to construct buildings so that people survive. We have the money to do it. That untold tens - maybe even hundreds - of thousands died in Haiti speaks to the level of poverty in which they have lived for generations. In California it took less than a year for things to get pretty much back to normal. In Haiti, it will never be the same. There is a way we can make it better and giving money to a recog-nized agency is only a place to start.

How does Haiti relate to our homeless in Roanoke? In one important way, which I hope I have learned: Don’t pass by on the other side.

Homeless in Roanoke and Haiti

Hayden Hollingsworth

Contact Hayden [email protected]

Contact Jon [email protected]

One thing is certain where salt-rising bread is concerned

- you either love it or hate it. The real thing, tingly and sour with a peculiar odor that defies description, bears little resem-blance to the loaves you may occasionally find on grocery shelves today. My father and brothers complained about the smell and refused to try it. My mother and I devoured a fresh loaf to the last crumb and wished for more.

Perhaps its appeal was due in part to its temperamental nature. Made with wild yeast, the dough demanded perfect conditions to sour and rise properly. That meant a con-stant warm temperature. This was easy to achieve during hot summer days, when the old wood range kept the kitchen sweltering in daytime and the temperature seldom dropped below 80 degrees at night. But during fall and winter months, you needed some artificial way to maintain warmth over an ex-tended period of time - at least twelve hours.

That's where the "salt-rising" comes in - not from salt added to the dough, but from salt heated on the stove and used to cradle the crock of starter. (Salt retains heat well; it was also heated and poured into a clean sock to provide a "heating pad" for an ear ache or cold feet on a winter night!)

The baking pro-cess was a long one, usually begun once the dinner dishes were washed and put away. Potatoes were peeled, sliced as thinly as possible, and placed inside a gallon crock. A couple of tablespoons of white corn-meal, some sugar and salt and a quart of boiling water were added to the crock. Cheese-cloth, to keep out the flies but allow wild yeast to spores access to the brew, was carefully tied over the top, and a heavy cloth or layers of newspaper wrapped around the sides for insulation. Finally, the crock was placed on the stove above the tank where

water was heated for dish wash-ing and Saturday night baths.

Usually by morning a dis-agreeable smell and a bubbly appearance announced the

starter was ready. The potato, having done its job, was re-moved and discard-ed. The mixture was transferred to a large wooden bowl and milk, water, baking soda, a bit of salt and shortening added.

Then Mother's wooden spoon stirred cup after cup of flour into

the liquid until the stiff dough could be turned out upon the kitchen table for kneading.

Perspiration beaded on her forehead and flour dusted her arms and apron as she pum-meled the spongy mass with the heel of her hand, folding and kneading, folding and knead-ing, with a slow steady rhythm, until the lump of dough was as smooth and silky as a baby's bottom. Then she divided it into three plump loaves, placed each

in a well-oiled pan, and prayed it would double in size.

A hot summer day - or a pan of hot salt - hastened the process. But even with perfect conditions, you could expect to wait several long hours before the creamy dough swelled suf-ficiently to make a springy loaf.

If all went well, by late after-noon the hot kitchen would be filled with the pungent aroma of baking bread, browning in the 400 degree oven. Three loaves of genuine salt rising bread, sliced and dripping with freshly churned butter, would grace the supper table.

When I hunger for a taste of yesterday, I get out my mother's recipe and try my luck. On cool autumn days or in winter, I put the starter in a pan of warm wa-ter on my electric warming tray, which keeps the temperature constant. When the loaves are ready, I cover them with a tea towel and let them rest on a cake rack atop the warming tray.

To me it is the smell of love.

A Very Good Taste of Yesterday

Mary Jo Shannon

Contact Mary Jo [email protected]

PersPectiveNewsRoanoke.com 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |

OFFICIAL CALLMASS MEETING OF ROANOKE CITY

REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE As Chairman of the Roanoke City Republican Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia, and pursuant to the Plan of Organization and as recommended and directed by the Committee, I, Adam W. Boitnott, do hereby issue this call for a MASS MEETING to be held at Roanoke City Council Cham-bers, 215 Church Ave., S.W., City of Roanoke, at 6:00 p.m. on February 17, 2010, for the following purposes: Electing up to 3 candidates to run for Roanoke City Council, in the May 4, 2010 elections.The transaction of such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

Qualifications for ParticipationAll legal and qualified voters of Roanoke City under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, re-gardless of race, religion, national origin or sex, who are in accord with the principles of the Republican Party and who, if requested, express in open meeting, either orally or in writing as may be required, their intent to support all of its nominees for public office in the ensuing election, may participate as members of the Republican Party of Virginia in its mass meetings, party canvasses, conventions or primaries encompassing their respective election districts. All individuals desiring to participate in the Mass Meeting may be required to present some form of identification such as a voting card, drivers' license or other positive identification.

In addition to the foregoing, to be in accord with the principles of the Republican Party, unless other-wise stipulated by the appropriate Official Committee, a person otherwise qualified hereunder shall not have participated in Virginia in the nomination process of a party other than the Republican Party after March 1, 2006, or in the last five years, whichever is more recent. A single exception to this shall be approved for a voter that renounces affiliation with any other party in writing, and who expresses in writing that he/she is in accord with the principles of the Republican Par-ty and intends, at the time of the writing, to support the nominees of the Republican Party in the future. Any voter that utilizes the foregoing exception, and thereafter participates in the nomination process of a party other than the Republican Party, shall not have the benefit of the exception thereafter.

Candidate Pre-Filing Requirements Candidate Filing Requirements: Candidates for election shall file a written statement by mail, e-mail, or in person, to Adam W. Boitnott, 3929 Three Chop Lane, Roanoke, Virginia 24014, which must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. February 11, 2010. For more information, contact Adam W. Boitnott

at 540-797-5010 or [email protected].

Mass Meeting Registration Registration for the Mass Meeting will begin at 5:00 p.m. and end at 6:00 p.m. All persons in line by

6:00 p.m. will be allowed to register for the Mass Meeting. Registration Fee

There will be no registration fee.

Paid for and authorized by the Roanoke City Republican Committee, Adam W. Boitnott, Chairman.

I my last two columns I have written about two remarkable Historian's, Will and Ariel Durrant and some of the interesting find-

ings from their lifetime of work. I will close out my trilogy with the following excerpts. If you'd like to learn more about the life and work of this extraordinary couple please contact me through the article links on NewsRoanoke.com.

There were charlatans in those days of course - what age is free of them? Anton Mesmer [from which we get the word `mesmerize’ - to hypnotize] professed to cure diseases by the lay-ing on of hands. Durant: [Mesmer] announced that an occult force dwelt within him, which could be transmit-ted to others under financial stimula-tion.

...Little Jack Horner, remember him? Right. ̀ Put in his thumb; pulled out a plum’ Jack Horner? Ap-parently, there really was a Jack Horner. He was the steward to the Abbott of Glastonbury. Well, seems that Jack-baby found the deed to the Man-or of Mells in a pie where it was being smuggled from the Abbott to Henry 8th. He pulled out this `plum’ and became owner of the manor. His de-scendants still live there generations later.

...`Drink a toast.’ - Long ago, it was the custom to scraped burned toast into wine to decrease acid and thus improve flavor. To actually ̀ drink a toast’ came in the 18th century.

...`To eat your hat.’ - Hattes was an old and ter-rible food made of eggs, dates, saffron, salt and veal. The original confirmation of a vow was to promise to do a thing or eat `hattes.’

...To be `In cahoots.’ In medieval Europe, gangs of criminals stayed in make-shifts cabins called `cahutes.’ Anyone thought to be in partnership with these gangs of highwaymen were said to be in cahutes with them.

...Bakers’ Dozen [thirteen of anything]. Long ago, there were serious laws for bakers who short-weighted customers. Bakers threw in an addition-al one to be sure.

...The laws of ancient Saxony: An `out-law’ [someone who defied the court’s judgment] would have all his property forfeit and could be killed with impunity by anyone. If you inflicted a cut on someone back then you were fined 1-2 shillings per inch. A shilling may not sound like much of a price to pay, but back then, the cost of a sheep was, guess what? One shilling.

…In France, during the reign of Louis XV, it was said, writes Durant, "...that 9/10ths of the popu-lace died of hunger; one tenth of indigestion."

... Bread was divided according to status. The loaf was cut sideways. Workers got the burnt bot-tom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust."

England is old and small they started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up

coffins, take out the bones, and re-use the graves. In re-opening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people

alive. So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up to the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer."

…It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a

month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.

Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honey-moon."

…Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice.

…Why mount horses from the left? Because swords were worn on the left, most people being right-handed.

…Shaking hands began, apparently, as a means to determine the person you are greeting was not armed. But why shake the hand? To loose weap-ons from the sleeve.

...In the beginning, barbers cut hair, let blood, performed minor surgery and pulled teeth. Origi-nally the barber’s pole was all red and its intent was for patrons to wrap their arms around to distend their veins for blood-letting, and blood stains didn’t show against the red color. When not in use, the pole was set outside the shop to dry wrapped around with re-usable white cloths.

...The use of beauty marks may have been born in the 1600’s after a severe Smallpox epidemic left the survivors with facial pock-marks. Edward Jenner’s vaccinations [1796] bought an end to the disease’s onslaughts, but the trend continues with our occasional use of cosmetic pencils.

…Marital history: Why does the bride stand to the groom’s left? To prevent attack by the bride’s kinsmen or jealous suitors. Remember, sword worn on the left, keep your fightin’ hand free. The bride’s bouquet? To hide her smell [and his.]

…Durant would be the first to tell you that ac-curately defining how our customs and sayings came to be is a risky task, but, still, it’s kind of fun to speculate.

Look for Lucky’s ‘The Oath of Hippocrates’ – available locally and on-line.

A Few Last Bits of Knowledge from Will and Ariel Durrant

Lucky Garvin

Contact Lucky [email protected]

I was just looking through my recipe notebooks and I found this recipe that my friend Emily (the other happy chef) made a few years back for one of our get-togethers. It is such a delicious dish and very unique. Emily is a fabulous cook and a great source of recipes. Every other month we meet with a group of friends and have what we call "Food Network Night." We pick a cuisine theme for that evening and then we each find a recipe from any of the Food Network Chefs and prepare and bring that dish to serve. It is just a wonderful way to explore new recipes and share delicious food!

It is always so much fun to see these friends that I love so much. We are in a Christian book club together as well. I can’t express how wonderful it is to be in a group like this with close friends that you can always count on to provide probing questions and hon-est answers. It is therapy and inspiration and it helps to keep us all grounded in what is real.

Life is amazing but also tragic. Difficult personal and global events can be so overwhelming, and this past week has certainly of-fered more proof than we need of that. Where would we be without others to help guide us through it all? So here’s to people coming together to help other people! They are God’s hands and feet and voice and thanks be to Him for that.1 tablespoon peanut oil 1 large onion, chopped 1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey 1/2 cup purchased Asian peanut sauce 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce 1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus additional soy sauce for dipping 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped (about 1 1/4 cups) 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint plus 1/3 cup small mint sprigs 12 large butter lettuce leaves

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

-Heat peanut oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add turkey and sauté until brown and cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 7 minutes. Add peanut sauce, hoisin sauce, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce; heat through. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. ----Reheat in microwave or skillet, adding water by tablespoonfuls to moisten if necessary, before continuing.) Stir in cucumber and chopped mint. Season with salt and pepper. -Transfer turkey mixture to medium bowl. Place mint sprigs and lettuce leaves on platter. To make wraps, spoon turkey mixture onto lettuce leaf, add a few mint sprigs, fold in sides over filling, and roll up. Pass additional soy sauce alongside wraps for dipping.

The Recipe of the Weekfrom The Happy Chef by Leigh Sackett

Did you enjoy the snow? Are you ready for it to be gone yet? For most folks, both answers seem to be a “yes.” It

is almost gone, but it sure was fun while it was here. For most school age children, this has been the biggest snow in memory and it has been in-teresting to see the effect it has had.

I know in my own home it has turned my son into the snowball assassin. In his world, when it snows, everyone has a bull’s eye on their back, and head, and rear, etc. To make matters worse, a few years ago he received a snowball maker which has enabled him to manufacture large quantities of perfectly shaped snowballs…..just what every snowball junky needs.

The snow also brought out the skis and snow-boards, the sleds and fort building, and possibly my all time favorite snowman giant on Brandon, that I now refer to as the melting man. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing out. While I am sure many of us have fun stories about the snow, I have also noticed some troubling trends.

The weeks following the big snow I asked many of my clients about their fun. I myself am a big kid and I love the snow. While I did get many great sledding stories and tales of snow forts and epic snowball battles, I also was inundated with what I would call gaming overload. Over half of the several hundred kids I have seen since the snow responded to the question about what they did, with “I played video games all day”, or something very similar. I even had one child say that the snow caused a real problem for him because he couldn’t get to the mall to get a new video game that he wanted to play.

What, a kid complaining about snow? What happened to the days of playing outside all day until you were soaked to the bone (before Gore-tex) and all the neighborhood kids coming in to enjoy hot chocolate while their wet clothes were in the dryer? What happened to walking a mile in too small snow boots just to get to the perfect sledding hill? Something is wrong here. The biggest snow in their life to date and half of these kids spent their time playing video games. What are we doing wrong? Now, just so no one says “Oh, I am sure they played in the snow some.” I asked them. They really didn’t. Shocking isn’t it?

No, it is not news to me that kids are too hooked on video games. This sad reality has been clear for years. I am still trying to come up with even one socially redeeming quality that is either developed, taught, or in some way in-ternalized by the playing of video games and…

…I’m still looking. Yes, many will say it is entertainment. It is, but

I would argue that I can always give a better op-tion. If you are starting to think that I am rail-ing against video games, I am a little bit. If your child plays video games, take this quiz.

1. Which does my child have more of, video games or books?

2. What does my child do most often for en-tertainment?

3. How does my child handle it when I remove his video games?

4. Am I afraid to remove my child’s video games?

5. Would my child rather play outside with friends or video games alone?

6. Does my child get overly emo-tional when he does not do well on a video game? (Yells at the game, throws controllers, etc.)

7. Can your child name more vid-eo game titles or book titles?

8. How easy is it to get you child away from the video games?

9. Would your child value friends or video games more?

Now for some of you, this quiz doesn’t relate, but for many it does. So, do you see a pattern? If alcohol

or pot was substituted for video games, we might say there is an addiction, depending on your an-swers. It is no wonder that some studies have demonstrated chemical changes in the brain mimicking those of drug addiction while game playing. Nothing should have that much control over our children’s lives!

If this concerns you, here are a few suggestions. If your children don’t have video games, resist the urge. When grandma wants to get Johnny a game system, tell her to get him a chemistry set instead. If your child has games, manage them. Restrict their use to weekends and for only cer-tain amounts of time. Never allow unrestricted use for undetermined amounts of time.

If you choose to do these things, it will cre-ate a problem…..time. Your child will now have lots of it. Fill it up with activities, sports, chores, board games. Give your child experiences in real life instead of fantasy experiences that don’t even relate to life. Take your kids to Wal-mart and let them each pick a board game or give them a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for a new book series. Regardless of how you do it, our children have to be unplugged. The biggest snow of a kid’s lifetime should never be wasted again!

Kids Should Never Waste A Snowfall!

Keith McCurdy

Contact Keith [email protected]

St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Catholic Church

4910 Hubert Rd NW Roanoke(at Hershberger, E of Williamson Rd.)

Holy Communion 9:30 a.m. Bible Study 10:30 a.m.

366-9416www.sttofc.org

Holy Communion 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.Christian Education 10 a.m.

Sunday:

Thursday:


Roanoke has a Saltwater Fish Store!

• Large selection • Live corals

• Aquariums & equipment • Delivery & set-up

• Maintenance for home or business540-580-7755 1428 Roanoke Road

(Across from Lord Botetourt High School)

T-F 3-7 pm, Sat 12-6 pm, Sun 1-5

Roanoke Public Libraries and Roanoke Public Library Foundationinvite you to

WALK THE

RED CARPET and celebrate the opening of the Darryl & Yong-Ja Howery Reference and Research Center

Mezzanine, Roanoke Main Library Saturday January 23 2 - 4 p.m.Information: 540-853-1057

with Lenny Marcus Jazz,refreshments and surprises

new computers•new furniture•new laptop station•a whole new look•and new carpet!

540-989-95014920 Woodmar Drive SW • Roanoke, VA 24018

www.parkoakgrove.com • [email protected]

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

��

Celebrating 21Years of Excellence 1989-2010

• Assisted Living Services In Your Own Apartment• 24-Hour On-Site Licensed Wellness Staff• Dynamic Activities Program• 3 Delicious Meals Served Daily• Weekly Housekeeping & Laundry Linen Service• Scheduled Transportation• Small Pets Welcome

Independent and Assisted Living

Call Today to tour our Community & enjoy a delicious meal with us!!

Learn About Our Excellent Amenities and Reasonable Rates!

Now Available...One Bedroom Apartment

The wine steward said, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. - John 2:1-11

A wedding is a time of joy, of family celebration, of hope. Wine is symbolic of the family’s desire that all present should share in the mood - that their hearts might be gladdened, that they might lose some of their inhibitions and let the music of this wonderful life-event set the guests’ feet to dancing, their tongues to laughter, their voices to song. The wine is a vital vehicle of hospitality, a pivotal element in the celebration.

But the wine has run out. The family is embarrassed. The guests are disappointed. The party and the celebration they had been imagining for years is in danger of fizzling out.

Let me ask you: Has the wine run out for you? Has the wine run out in your marriage? Has the wine run out in your work? Has the wine run out in our church? Has the wine run out in your walk with God? I’m not asking if you are in crisis. I’m not asking you if

your circumstances are good or bad. I am asking you if the joy has dried up. I’m asking you if the hope that you once had is gone. I’m asking you if the mood has changed. I’m asking you if the party is over and you are just hanging around looking for your coat so you can go home.

Maybe the grind of life just took your joy. Maybe there were losses and failures and set backs that caused you to lose hope. Maybe the news of these days with all its trouble beat it out of you, or the aches and pains of age robbed you. Maybe a love went wrong. Maybe you missed the promotion or lost the job, or maybe you have all that you ever wanted and now you find that there is nothing left for which you strive. Maybe there is guilt that weighs on you or opportunities that were missed and are gone forever. Maybe you were once filled with hope that Christ’s love would fill you, but somebody in the church let you down. Maybe you prayed and prayed and lost inter-est when nothing seemed to change for you. Maybe your married life hasn’t turned out the way you had dreamed and you are living in two different worlds, unconnected and you don’t really know how it happened. But whatever happened, life has dried up, the wine has run out and the music has stopped and you have stopped hoping that hope will ever return.

Hope. It tells us that the best is yet to come. Is that a word we can hear today?

You know, I’ve been through some dry days lately with little wine flowing. But I believe it is less a matter of circumstance than a mat-ter of trust for me. Sometimes I have to be brought up short in order to look again to the Source of life. Then, I have to get about doing what he tells me. And so do you.

Pray for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives. Keep it up. Seek and you will find.

What gives life the wine of hope and joy? Why, the Source of hope and joy, Christ. What gives a marriage life and hope of renewal? Why, the Source of love that turns selfish people toward each other. What gives a walk of faith new pizzazz and spirit? Why the Source, the Giver of faith who walks with you. What gives a church a vision of the life God intends? Why, the Head of the Church, the Source of the Church’s very life.

Seek and you will find, says the Lord of life. Seek him, then. And you will find that the best is yet to come. For every day will be a day closer to him who intends life, and love and joy. The party isn’t over. It has only begun.

Tupper Garden is Senior Pastor for Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church in Roanoke. Visit them on the web at rcpres.org

The Best Is Yet to Come . . .? by Tupper Garden

While campaigning back in December, Bob McDonnell promised the crowd a warm and sunny day for his Inaugu-ration and a celebration party “not to forget.” It turns out he was being accurately prophetic. Robert Francis McDonnell was sworn in as Virginia’s 71st Gov-ernor, along with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General

Ken Cuccinelli, on the steps of the State Capitol in Richmond under sunny skies this past Sat-urday with a crowd of about 6,000 in attendance.

He was ushered into the grandstands to the sounds of a fife and drum corps, smartly dressed in their colonial uni-forms. At his side was his wife Maureen, along with their chil-dren and about 120 members of their extended family. McDon-nell’s daughter Jeanine, an Iraq war Army veteran, sang the na-tional anthem.

Virginia Supreme Court Jus-tice Barbara Milano Keenan be-came the first woman to swear in a Virginia governor when she administered the oath. McDon-nell used an old family Bible for the oath -- a Latin Vulgate Bible that had been presented to his great-grandparents on their wedding day in 1876 in Mas-sachusetts.

Immediately following the oath, members of the Virginia National Guard fired off a 19

gun howitzer salute and the crowd was treated to a flyover by four F-22’s.

McDonnell is the state’s first Republican governor in eight years and takes office in the aftermath of the worst nation-wide recession since the Great Depression, inheriting a $4.2 billion shortfall in the state bud-get.

During his acceptance speech, McDonnell made ref-erences to former Governors Kaine and Wilder, as well as President John F. Kennedy, all Democrats. “No federal man-date nor program crafted by either political party should undermine the central principle of federalism, enshrined in the birth certificate of America by those who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor,” stated McDonnell.

He said job creation is a high priority, as is easing regula-tions and lowering taxes on businesses. Referring to his campaign promises, McDon-nell said he would aim to add 100,000 college degreed people to the workforce over the next 15 years. Improving the state’s transportation network and using what he described as

Virginia’s “God-given wealth of resources” to make Virginia the “Energy Capital of the East Coast” with off-shore drilling were also mentioned.

House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), praised the speech for laying out Republican ideals on limited government, while Sen. R. Ed-ward Houck (D) said the speech “had a very solid Democratic Party theme to it” regarding McDonnell’s progressive ideas. “The only question is how do you pay for all those wonderful ideas?” Houck asked.

McDonnell concluded his 22-minute speech by prais-ing President Obama for his support of charter school pro-grams and merit pay guidelines for teacher pay. “More money must go to the classroom and less into administration, and [towards] new opportunities in science, technology, engi-neering, math and healthcare … created through our schools and colleges,” he said.

The parade that followed the ceremony included a Native American ceremonial dance and former Washington Red-skins cheerleaders, to which McDonnell’s wife Maureen -- a

former Redskins cheerleader -- shook her pompoms in obvious delight. Others in the parade in-cluded the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Highty-Tighties, VMI cadets and performing horses.

Some in the crowd saw the election of Bob McDonnell as a new beginning for Virginia, as well as the United States. “Oh, what a difference a year makes,” said Del. Joe May (R).

“People got disillusioned and there were unreasonable expec-

tations at the presidential level, and boy, it didn’t take long” said Michael Steele, the RNC Chair-man, adding that McDonnell’s campaign for governor “should serve as a shining example for all Republicans looking for suc-cess in 2010.”

McDonnell Sworn In as Virginia’s Governor

By Carla [email protected]

McDonnell sworn in as Virginia’s Governor.

Preacher’s corner

sPorts 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |Page7

Send sports pictures, announcements and story ideas to

[email protected]

“Providing Comprehensive Eye CareWith Compassion & Excellence”

Three Locations to Serve You

Smith Mountain Lake

Botetourt

Roanoke1960 Electric Rd.

540-772-7171

13295 Booker T. Wash. Hwy.540-721-4433

33 British Woods Dr.540-992-6768

www.eyecaresurgery.com

Offer expires 1/31/10. Restrictions apply. Call for details.

M&W Electronics7637 Williamson Rd.

540-366-1010

Specialty Discounted BldgsSome under $8k

Call to Reserve; 1 per BuyerCan Construct

IAS-AC 472 Mfg Certwww.scg-grp.com Source#1EU

540-765-4224

For the Roanoke College Ma-roons, the 2009-2010 basketball season is a new chapter, of sorts. The previous chapter ended with a 70-65 loss to Hampden-Sydney in the ODAC Quarter-finals last February. That loss meant the end of the careers of seniors Curtis Peery (the school’s 6th all-time leading scorer), Aaron Tyson, Zach Milton and Drew Gaeng.

That group spearheaded a terrific run at Roanoke, which went 68-39 during their four years at the school, including a 41-29 mark in the ODAC. In 2008-09, the Maroons got off to a 14-1 start, climbing all the way to #18 in the D3Hoops.com Top-25 poll before falter-ing late in the season.

This season, Roanoke is in a rebuilding phase, seeking to find the players to replace last year’s stars. With much less experience on the roster, the Maroons have predictably struggled a bit, and with Mon-day’s 96-62 loss to Guilford College (the team’s third defeat it its past four games), Roanoke sits at 6-10 overall, 3-4 in the ODAC – good enough for a tie for 5th place with Bridgewater College.

The ODAC is an unforgiving league, however, and it makes the Maroons 5th place standing

look better when the top three teams in the conference (#2 Guilford, #3 Randolph Macon, #7 Eastern Mennonite) are each ranked in the top-10 nationally, and the fourth place team, Vir-ginia Wesleyan, is ranked #12.

No wonder then that head coach Page Moir has been en-couraged by what his young players have accomplished so far.

“We’re young, no question, and we’ve had a lot of growing pains so far,” Moir said. “But I like what we have, and I like where we’re going.”

The Maroons only have one senior playing significant min-utes: forward Kendrick Chit-tock, “a real leader by example,” Moir said, while the rest of the key minutes are held by un-derclassmen. The youngsters do have talent, however. Junior guards Melvin Felix (12.4ppg) and Matt Crizer (11.1) lead the team in scoring, and another junior guard, Parrish Walker, is also averaging double-digits in points with 10.8 per game. Moir also raves about the potential of freshman guard Kwasi Am-ponsah, a highly-touted recruit from Garfield High School.

What those players don’t have yet, according to Moir, is consis-tency. “They’ve been learning how demanding this level is

and the different intensity level you have to play with. It’s differ-ent from the high school game, even at the Division III level.”

With nine games remaining in the regular season, Moir and his coaching staff will be trying to get that point across to their players. “We’ve played some good 15 and 20-minute stretch-es, but we’ve yet to put a full 40 minutes together. I keep telling them that we can’t be like a fau-cet; we can’t turn it on and off.”

The Maroons hosted Ran-dolph College on Wednesday night, and will travel to Virginia Beach to take on the Marlins Saturday afternoon.

Maroons Seek Strong Finish

Afer a disappointing start before Christmas, losing their first three basketball games, the RVCS Eagles won two of three games this past week.

On Monday, RVCS Eagles traveled to Christian Heritage Academy in Rocky Mount to take on the Knights. Despite a rather poor effort in the first half, the Eagles came out strong in the second half, taking a commanding lead and never looking back. The Eagles got the victory, 61-45.

Nathan Perkinson led RVCS with 28 points and freshman, Joe Bailey, added 10. On Tues-day, the Eagles hosted non-district foe, Ridgeview Chris-tian. RVCS came out strong, showing they really wanted to win this game. The Eagles had a respectable lead for most of the game, but the Crusaders pressed the Eagles in the fourth quarter and brought the lead down to only 3. With just a few seconds to spare, Ridgeview had a chance to tie with the last shot of the game, but missed the three-pointer, giving RVCS the 66-63 win. Nathan Perkinson led the Eagles again in scor-ing, banking a career-high 36 points, while point guard, Jared Hundley, scored 8 in the win.

On Friday, RVCS suffered their only loss of the week to a tough district opponent, The Southwest Virginia Home-schoolers. RVCS played a great first quarter and shut down the Conquerors offense, but

the Conquerors came back in the second ending the first half with a 12-2 run. In the second half, RVCS continued to play tough defense, but the offense struggled severely, only scoring 8 points in the second half. The Eagles held the homeschoolers to an impressive 46 points, hold-ing their top two scorers, Caleb Akers and Tyler Beasley, to 17

points combined. In the end, the Conquerors came out on top, 46-30. Nathan Perkinson led the Eagles once again with 18 points, and 10 rebounds. Jared Hundley added 8 once again.

The Eagles have three more important games this next week that they plan to improve their offense and keep up the strong work on defense.

RVCS Eagles Win Two And Lose One

By Matt [email protected]

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel is published weekly by Whisper One Media, Inc. in Roanoke, Va. Subscriptions are available for $44 per year. Send subscriptions to PO Box 8338, Roanoke, VA 24014. We encourage letters from our readers on topics of general interest to the community and responses to our articles and columns. Letters must be signed and have a telephone number for verification. All letters will be verified before publication. The Star-Sentinel reserves the right to deny publication of any letter and edit letters for length, content and style.

All real estate advertised herein is subject to national and Virginia fair housing laws and readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis.

The Roanoke Star-SentinelCommuni ty | News | Perspect ive

Publisher | Stuart Revercomb | [email protected] News Editor | Gene Marrano | [email protected] Editor | Cheryl hodges | [email protected] Editor | Leigh Sackett | [email protected] Webmaster | Don Waterfield | [email protected] Director | Vickie henderson | [email protected]

540-400-0990 • NewsRoanoke.com

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel is a proud Media Partner with WSLS 10

!

Our Lady of Nazareth

Catholic Church

2505 Electric Road, Roanoke VA, 24018

www.oln-parish.org

Contact us:540-774-0066

Photo by Gene Marrano

Page Moir is closing in on the all time record for ODAC wins.

Salem High School came out of the gate strong Tuesday night in the Hidden Valley gym and, despite every effort, Hidden Val-ley was never able to get back within striking distance.

The Spartan's fast paced offense opened a quick 12-2 lead and seemed content to settle in to a 10 to 15 point margin for the rest of the evening. Hidden Valley could get no closer than 8 points the rest of the way as Salem improved to 3-1 in the River Ridge District. Hidden Valley, hoping to put pressure on district leader Cave Spring heading into this Friday night's match-up with the Knights, fell to 1-2 in district play.

Hidden Valley was plagued by turnovers and poor foul shoot-ing while Salem was stellar at the free throw line, making 16 of 18 attempts. Free throws alone accounted for a 14 point differential in the contest.

The Spartans were led by Reggie Barnette's 20 points. Salem also got double figure production from Tyler Mann and Isaac Belton with 11 and 10 points respectively. Taylor Walker scored 15 points for Hidden Valley.

Salem Defeats Hidden Valley at River Ridge

Salem #10 Reggie Barnette eyes a free throw in the sec-ond half Tuesday night.

Spartans #10 Reggie Bar-nette drives into front court as Hidden Valley #20 Carter Wright defends.

Photos and Recap by Bill Turner

Faith Christian School got an early scare Tuesday night, then took control before rolling to a 16-point victory on their Buck Mountain Road home court.

The Faith Christian Acad-emy from Hurt, VA jumped out to a 9-2 lead before the Lady Warriors from Roanoke got on track. The game was tied 21-21 at halftime.

The third quarter belonged to the Roanoke squad as they held the visitors scoreless for the entire quarter and opened a 13-point lead before cruising to the final margin.

Jackie Jessup led all scorers with 15 points. Morgan Oliver was also in double figures for the winners, chipping in 10.

The Lady Warriors, 2008 state champions in the VACA, remain undefeated in league play. Stand-out senior, Rachel Nymeyer, hit a significant milestone last week when she scored her 1,000th career point for Faith Christian School.

Faith Christian Lady Warriors rally at mid-court before Tuesday night's contest.

#34 Rachel Nymeyer battles for an offensive rebound against the FCA Lions. Nymeyer scored her 1,000th career point last week as a Lady Warrior.


Cave Spring remained perfect in district play after picking up two wins in decidedly different fashion this week.

Last Friday, the Knights were pushed to the limit before defeating Blacksburg 50-43 at the Knight gym. Blacksburg had significant lapses at the end of both halves that enabled Cave Spring to secure the tough victory.

The Knights seemed to be in trouble with Blacksburg holding a 6-point lead late in the first half. But, the Bruins missed the front end of two free throw opportunities and turned the ball over on another trip down the court to al-low Cave Spring to cut the deficit to one on five quick points by guard Adam Hager, including a

3-pointer as time expired.Blacksburg only trailed 44-43 with under a

minute left to play before Knight center Josh Henderson scored and Clay Lacy canned two free throws to secure the win. Henderson led the Knights with 12 points. Lacy tallied 10 with Hager and Mark Overstreet chipping in 9 each.

On Tuesday night, Cave Spring exacted re-venge on Christiansburg, demolishing the Blue Demons and their ill-conceived man-to-man defense 94-60. Henderson poured in 30 points and Lacy had 19 in the rout.

Cave Spring returns to action Friday night against rival Hidden Valley at the Knights’ gym.

#2 Quentin Dill pressures a Blacksburg ball handler.


Cave Spring’s Mark Overstreet made himself at home on the free throw line against Blacksburg, hitting 9 shots from the charity stripe.

Cave Spring Remains Undefeated in River Ridge District

Fleming Seeks Nominations for Hall of Fame The Athletic Booster Club at

William Fleming High School is currently accepting nomina-tions for the inaugural members of the William Fleming Athlet-ics Hall of Fame. The booster club is especially interested in athletes from September 1933, the year the school was founded on Williamson Road, through the graduating class of 2000.

The Athletics Hall of Fame has been established to ac-knowledge and honor individu-

als who have made superior and outstanding contributions to William Fleming High School. The nominated individuals should exemplify high stan-dards, moral character and in-tegrity and been out of school for a minimum of ten years.

The nomination form can be found on the William Fleming High School web site or at the school and must be received by March 1, 2010. The Inaugural Class will be inducted the Fall

of 2010. The hall of fame will be located at the new William Fleming School that opened in 2009.

For more information con-tact: [email protected] or by phone at Troy’s cell 540-597-5160. You can also go online to: http://roa-noke.va.schoolwebpages.com/education/school/school.php?sectionid=36

Faith Christian Lady Warriors Defeat Faith Christian Academy

valley Business | The Roanoke Star-Sentinel | 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 NewsRoanoke.com

At Your Service!Your Hometown Business Directory

At Your Service!Your Hometown Business Directory

Save your carpet!Carpet re-stretching and repair

Also new installationsSteven W. Durrance

Floors

776-9591

540-904-7104SERVING THE ROANOKE VALLEY

Haley Toyota2711 Franklin Rd.

Roanoke, VA 24014

1334 S. Main St., Blacksburg, VA (beside Kroger) 540-951-HAIR Offer Expires July 12, 2009 No Appointment Necessary

$5.99HAIRCUT

COUPON

NM599

2022 Electric Rd. Roanoke, 24018 (725-2007)3940 Valley Gateway Blvd, Roanoke (New Bonsack Kroger) (977-1107)

Offer Expires Sept. 1, 2009 No Appointment Necessary

STAR

!

!

JSSHome ImprovementsGeneral Home Repairs

Complete Bathroom Remodeling • Tile WorkInterior/exterior Carpentry • Plumbing

Window/door installation • Hardwood Flooring

For a Free Estimate Call or email James725-7343 [email protected]

Licensed/insured with 24 years experiencereferences available

Use it to call Mr. Handyman.

“The tool I recommend most? The telephone.”

“The tool I recommend most? The telephone.”

www.mrhandyman.com

RICHARD KARN TV star and “home improvement guru.”

540-977-4444Fully Insured-General Liability and Workers’ Compensation.

Each franchise independently owned and operated.

6.991334 S. Main St., Blacksburg, VA (beside Kroger) 540-951-HAIR

Offer Expires July 12, 2009 No Appointment Necessary

$5.99HAIRCUT

COUPON

NM599

Our Blacksburg location, located ½ mile from VT campusis hiring FT / PT stylists. Management opportunities may

be available. Please call 540-525-4643 or go online to:www.greatclips.com

NOW HIRING°

Kitchen Cabinets Restored540 366 1640

Clean • Touch Up • Clear Coat

Smart KitchensCall“A Beautiful Kitchen...In Just One Day!”

Joe Kleinman

Have your businessplaced here for $30

a week

540-904-7104SERVING THE ROANOKE VALLEY

!

!

JSSRemodelingGeneral Home Repairs

Complete Bathroom Remodeling • Tile WorkInterior/exterior Carpentry • Plumbing

Window/door installation • Hardwood Flooring

For a Free Estimate Call or email James725-7343 [email protected]

Licensed/insured with 24 years experiencereferences available

1618 Roanoke BlvdSuite A

Salem, Virginia 24153540-389-5252

www.dustbunniescorp.comgift certificates available

Dust Bunnies, Inc. Specialty Discounted BldgsSome under $8k

Call to Reserve; 1 per BuyerCan Construct

IAS-AC 472 Mfg Certwww.scg-grp.com Source#1EU

540-765-4224

Find the answers online: TheRoanokeStar.com

Have a clue and answer you’d like to see? email: puzzles@

theroanokestar.com

Star~Sentinel Crossword

By Don Waterfield

Local Crossword 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29

30 31 32 33 34

35 36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43

44 45 46 47

48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

65 66 67 68 69

70 71 72

73 74 75

www.CrosswordWeaver.com

ACROSS

1 Pig 4 Do it again 8 Adult insect

13 Arabian 15 Onto 16 African nation 17 The other half of Iwo 18 A natural reason for Roanoke? 19 Genetic identical 20 Moveable parts 22 Throw 24 Gets older 25 Hotel 26 Pimple 28 Hold 30 France & Germany river 31 Ball 32 Epoch 35 Seasoner makers 38 Reorient 40 Nuke 41 Jacob's son 42 Delaware 43 Torso extensions 44 Is 45 BB Player Abdul Jabar 47 Demean 48 Not (refix) 49 Pluto 50 Acquired Immune Deficiency

Syndrome (abbr.)

52 Greenwich Mean Time 53 BB association 54 Curve 57 Hawaiian island 60 Sixth sense 63 Displayer of emotions 65 Plasma 67 "Mister" (German) 69 Island 70 Main artery 71 Decorative needle case 72 Jump 73 Jalopy 74 At sea 75 Cutting tool

DOWN

1 Person who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca

2 Constellation 3 Charming tomboy 4 Moscow's country 5 Environmental protection agency

(abbr) 6 Child's toy 7 Upon 8 Incorporated (abbr.) 9 Downtown tobacconist since

1912 10 Impatient 11 DNA component 12 Mined metals

14 Censor 21 Tyrant 23 Star Trek Automoton's 27 Crafts 29 West by north 30 __ Lanka 31 Petroleum worker 32 Jewish scribe 33 Professional football team 34 Church part 35 Part of the "KKK" 36 Roman emperor 37 Baker's need 39 Downwind 43 Abdominal muscles (abbr.) 45 Admiral (abbr.) 46 Soaring plaything 47 Eden dweller 51 Portugal's peninsula 52 Zest 54 Afloat (2 wds.) 55 Mellow 56 Cloth 57 Opaque gem 58 Healing plant 59 Injure 61 Popular stadium 62 Domestic friends 64 Grease 66 Male 68 Regret

Local Crossword 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29

30 31 32 33 34

35 36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43

44 45 46 47

48 49 50 51

52 53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

65 66 67 68 69

70 71 72

73 74 75

www.CrosswordWeaver.com

ACROSS

1 Pig 4 Do it again 8 Adult insect

13 Arabian 15 Onto 16 African nation 17 The other half of Iwo 18 A natural reason for Roanoke? 19 Genetic identical 20 Moveable parts 22 Throw 24 Gets older 25 Hotel 26 Pimple 28 Hold 30 France & Germany river 31 Ball 32 Epoch 35 Seasoner makers 38 Reorient 40 Nuke 41 Jacob's son 42 Delaware 43 Torso extensions 44 Is 45 BB Player Abdul Jabar 47 Demean 48 Not (refix) 49 Pluto 50 Acquired Immune Deficiency

Syndrome (abbr.)

52 Greenwich Mean Time 53 BB association 54 Curve 57 Hawaiian island 60 Sixth sense 63 Displayer of emotions 65 Plasma 67 "Mister" (German) 69 Island 70 Main artery 71 Decorative needle case 72 Jump 73 Jalopy 74 At sea 75 Cutting tool

DOWN

1 Person who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca

2 Constellation 3 Charming tomboy 4 Moscow's country 5 Environmental protection agency

(abbr) 6 Child's toy 7 Upon 8 Incorporated (abbr.) 9 Downtown tobacconist since

1912 10 Impatient 11 DNA component 12 Mined metals

14 Censor 21 Tyrant 23 Star Trek Automoton's 27 Crafts 29 West by north 30 __ Lanka 31 Petroleum worker 32 Jewish scribe 33 Professional football team 34 Church part 35 Part of the "KKK" 36 Roman emperor 37 Baker's need 39 Downwind 43 Abdominal muscles (abbr.) 45 Admiral (abbr.) 46 Soaring plaything 47 Eden dweller 51 Portugal's peninsula 52 Zest 54 Afloat (2 wds.) 55 Mellow 56 Cloth 57 Opaque gem 58 Healing plant 59 Injure 61 Popular stadium 62 Domestic friends 64 Grease 66 Male 68 Regret

More than 100 biking enthusiasts attended an open house held recently to celebrate the new digs of Sharebike and Cyclo-Ward Bicycle Repair, located at the corner of Jefferson Street and Franklin Road. Cyclo-Ward is the maintenance arm of Sharebike, which rents bikes at no charge to local residents.

Subfreezing temperatures and wind gusts of up to 32 miles per hour didn’t stop The Starbomb and the Star City Alley Cat bicycle groups from braving the elements and holding their individual monthly rides and races, which left from and re-turned to Sharebike during the open house. The remainder of the crowd chose to cheer them on from inside where it was warm.

Launched by Ron McCorkle and James Rosar in 2007, both the non-profit community bicycle program and bicycle repair business were previously housed in a 475 square-foot store-front located in the City Market Building (32 Market Square).

The new and more spacious location includes a social area with a coffee service and large “chalk talk” blackboard, de-signed to encourage shared dialog, plus an educational center with DVDs, bike-related publications and accessories, yellow “sharebikes” and a bicycle repair area. Information regarding upcoming bicycle events and the greenways is also available at Sharebike. The new location will also begin selling new bikes in March.

Last Spring, Sharebike acquired a pedicab (a three-wheeled vehicle with a seat in front for the driver, handlebars and a cab in back for passengers). The Pedicab service is meant to en-courage bicycling and to offer a unique opportunity for visitors from out of town to see the city, with a guided tour by one of Sharebike’s professional drivers.

A small fee is charged to use the yellow sharebikes leaving from the main location. Sharebike has formed a partnership with three other individual businesses which offer the use of the bikes for free from those locations. These include Black Dog Salvage (located at 902 13th Street, SW), Grandin Gar-dens (located at 1731 Grandin Road, SW) and Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Commission (located at 313 Luck Avenue, SW).

Founded by McCorkle, Sharebike, a concept which origi-

nated elsewhere, has no employees, but rather utilizes a barter-ing system with many of its volunteers. For example, “one of the volunteers maintains the coffee service in exchange for a new blend of coffee created for Sharebike by Star City Roasters. Eighty percent of what we do is community supported by trade and donation,” said McCorkle, who is also involved with a buy-local foods movement.

The concept seems to be catching on: “Sharebike has tripled in business after two years in all dimensions including size of building and volume and I anticipate at least doubling in vol-ume this year.” McCorkle also said that James Rosar, Owner/Operator of Cyclo-Ward, makes Sharebike possible “by provid-ing instruction, maintenance and repair for the bikes.”

In addition to being an organization created to stimulate, support and link together a wide range of community-based bicycling initiatives in Roanoke, Sharebike restores cycles that have been confiscated by the City and then donates them to the after school program at Woodrow Wilson Middle School overseen by Resource Officer Jimmy Goad.

Sharebike’s hours of operation are currently 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. They are closed Tuesday and Sunday. McCorkle said plans are underway to open daily in the spring and a grand opening is planned for sometime in March. For additional information, visit www.sharebike.org and www.cycloward.com.

Sharebike and Cyclo-Ward Pedal Into New Location

By Susan [email protected]

Breast cancer survivors, their families and friends will join others on April 10 to show Roa-noke and surrounding commu-nities the strength in living the message and mission of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in the area’s first Race for the Cure.

Leading the region’s first Race for the Cure are honorary co-chairs, Nancy H. Agee and Charlotte C. Tyson. Both wom-en strongly support the Komen mission and each started their nursing career as an oncology nurse. Today, both women lead area healthcare facilities as chief operating officers. Nancy Agee is COO at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and Char-lotte Tyson is COO for Lewis Gale Medical Center.

As honorary co-chairs, they will lead teams and walkers to help kick-off the first Affiliate Race with inspirational messag-es of hope, motivation and emo-tion aimed at early detection and treatment. “Their rallying of our teams will set the stage for an emotional and moving day en-couraging women to be active partners in their breast health,” said Wendi Schultz, chair of the Komen Greater Roanoke Race for the Cure.

Greater Roanoke Valley Af-filiate is part of the 125-member Affiliate network of Susan G.

Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest and most progressive grass roots network fighting to end breast cancer forever. Local Affiliates serve as the face and voice of Komen’s global breast cancer movement, mobilizing millions of everyday people through activities like the Ko-men Race for the Cure Series, the world’s largest and most successful education and fund-raising event for breast cancer. Komen and its Affiliates are known globally for their dedi-cation to filling existing gaps in breast health and breast cancer needs. To make sure they are ad-dressing needs that no one else is meeting in their own service areas, Komen Affiliates work with local medical experts and community leaders to conduct comprehensive community needs assessments. These com-munity profiles are then used to establish local grant application and review processes consistent with Komen's promise to end breast cancer forever.

To learn more about the Greater Roanoke Valley Affili-ate and its Race for the Cure as well as the many ways to get in-volved in Komen’s fight against breast cancer, visit our Web site at www.komenroanoke.org.

Co-Chairs Named For Area’s First Komen Race

For The Cure

StellarOne has announced that Carolyn L. McCoy has joined the company as an As-set Management Relationship Manager, Vice President. Ms. McCoy will maintain two of-fices, one in at 105 Arbor Drive in Christiansburg and one at 111 Franklin Road in Roanoke. She will be responsible for the fiduciary administration of trusts, estates, retirement plans and investment management accounts in the New River and Roanoke Valleys.

Ms. McCoy joins StellarOne from the King Law Firm in Ro-anoke where she served as Trust Administrator since 2009. Prior to joining the King Law Firm,

Ms. McCoy served as First Vice President, Trust Advisor for SunTrust Bank, where she was employed for 35 years. She is a graduate of Mary Baldwin College and National Graduate Trust School. Ms. McCoy is a Certified Trust & Financial Ad-visor and Certified IRA Services Professional.

Ms. McCoy resides in Roa-noke with her husband Mike. She has three children, two-step children, and four step-grand-children.

StellarOne operates 56 full service financial centers, one loan production office, and 66 ATMs serving the New River Valley, Roanoke Valley, Shenan-

doah Valley, and Central and North Central Virginia. For more information, visit www.StellarOne.com.

McCoy Joins StellarOne

The Junior League of Roa-noke Valley will host the fourth annual Bargain Bazaar and Bake Sale this year to benefit the Pediatric Blood Drive and com-munity organizations focused on improving the lives of chil-dren in the Roanoke Valley.

Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on January 30, 2010 at Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke, the Bargain Bazaar will feature “like new” furniture, clothing, household items, toys, baby gear and elec-tronics plus additional “trea-sures” all at bargain prices. This one day event will be held in the lower level on Tanglewood Mall in the former Walden Books lo-cation.

“The Bargain Bazaar is the

perfect opportunity to enjoy an exciting sale, sample fabulous baked goods, and support the community at the same time,” said Beth Cross, President of the Junior League of Roanoke Val-ley.

Proceeds from the Bargain Bazaar primarily benefit the 8th Annual Pediatric Blood Drive, to be held on March 13, 2010 at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church. Additional funds from the Bargain Bazaar further the JLRV’s community focus on im-proving the lives of children in the Roanoke Valley through ad-vocacy, education, fundraising and partnerships with the exist-ing programs and community organizations.

The Junior League of Roa-noke Valley is an organization of women committed to pro-moting volunteer-ism, devel-oping the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volun-teers.

The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI) is comprised of more than 160,000 women in 293 Junior Leagues throughout Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Together, they constitute one of the largest volunteer organiza-tions in the world.

Junior League to Host Annual Bargain Bazaar at Tanglewood

Carolyn L. McCoy

Sharebike and Cyclo-Ward held an open house to celebrate their new joint location.

arts & cultureNewsRoanoke.com 1/22/10 - 1/28/10 |The Roanoke Star-Sentinel |

• On-siteCremation• RemovalandTransportation• ViewingandReflectionRoom• CustomServices• Aftercare• PetLossResources• Caskets,Urns,Markers&KeepsakeJewelry, DVDTributes,MemorialFolders

Hours:8amto5pm,M-F;Sat.9amto12pmAvailable by phone 24/7

Roanoke’sFirstPetFuneralHome.

540-265-7297www.oakeypetloss.com

5416 Airport Road • Roanoke, VACulligan Stoner5201 Williamson RoadRoanoke • 800-678-6203culliganstoner.com

enjoy the benefits of

Free InstallationFree Salt

Free 1-Year ServiceExpires 2/28/10. Certain restrictions apply. Call for details.

$100 OffSofteners, Filters and

Drinking Water Systems

Focusing On Excellence & Artistry At Affordable Prices

WEDDINGPHOTOGRAPHY

540-312-4585

BY PROFESSIONALPHOTOGRAPHERWILLS HOLLAND

WE ARE THE ALPINE GROUPwww.alpineonline.com

VISIT OUR

STATE OF THE ART

5000 SQ FT STUDIO

DON’T TRIP!

Carpet Restretching & RepairSteven W. Durrance Floors

776-9591

In his new book "Birth-right," Virginia Tech profes-sor of history A. Roger Ekirch brings to life an extraordinary story of intrigue and scandal, corruption, betrayal, and re-demption. In his latest work Ekirch details the story of an orphaned aristocrat - freed from years of indentured la-bor in America to claim his rightful place as a peer of the realm - an ordeal that cap-tivated eighteenth-century Britain. The saga inspired no fewer than five novels, includ-ing Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale, "Kid-napped."

Ekirch, the award-winning author of "At Day's Close: Night in Times Past," re-counts the conflicts of the Annesley family, evoking the

scents, sights, and sounds of the ancient rituals and often violent debauchery of life in Georgian Ireland. “Birth-right” is based upon research in Ireland, the United King-

dom, and the United States, where Ekirch draws upon courtroom transcripts, news-papers, personal correspon-dence, and nearly 400 rarely seen yet remarkably detailed legal depositions. "An ex-traordinary work of history by one of America's most imaginative historians, a true story more fascinating than fiction," proclaims Pulit-zer Prize-winning historian, Gordon S. Wood.

"Birthright: The True Story That Inspired Kidnapped" will be released on Jan. 25, 2010. Ekirch will be discuss-ing “Birthright” at the Library of Congress in the Mary Pick-ford Theater on April 15 at noon.

VT Professor Authors “Birthright: The True Story That Inspired Kidnapped”

The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge is seeking nominations for the 2010 recipients of the Perry F. Kendig Award for Out-standing Support of the Arts. This year the Perry F. Kendig Awards will in-clude awards to individual artists in the following dis-cipline: performing, visual and literary arts. Awards will also be presented in the following category of Arts Supporters: Arts Edu-cation Program, Business, Arts and Cultural Organi-zation, Individual Patron of the Arts, and Young Professional.

Nominations will be accepted through March 1, 2010. Forms are available at The Arts Coun-cil of the Blue Ridge or by visit-ing www.theartscouncil.org.

The Perry F. Kendig awards are chosen by a committee of community volunteers and based on the nominations of the general public. A reception and award ceremony will be held at Roanoke College on June 9, 2010. This year’s celebration will be the 25th Anniversary of the Perry F. Kendig Awards and will feature a silent auction of “Ev-erything Silver.”

The 2009 recipients were C. Nelson Harris as the Outstand-ing Individual, National League of American Pen Women - Roanoke Valley Branch as the Outstanding Arts & Cultural

Organization, Anstey Hodge Advertising Group for the Out-standing Business, Community High School for the Outstand-ing Arts Education Program and Coleman Gutshall as the Outstanding Young Profes-sional. Artist awards were given to: Pedro Szalay as the Out-standing Performing Artist, Paul Harrill as the Outstanding Visual Artist, and Dan Smith & Tom Field with Valley Business Front as Outstanding Literary

Artists. Ambassador and Mrs. Nicholas Taubman were recognized for their lifetime achievement to the arts.

The awards are named for the late Perry F. Kendig, a Roanoke Valley arts pa-tron who was also a presi-dent of Roanoke College. It was established in 1985 to recognize examples of sup-port, involvement and ac-complishment in the arts, and to inform the com-munity about significant contributions to the arts in our region. The activ-ity is funded in part by the National Endowment for

the Arts, the Virginia Commis-sion for the Arts, and the City of Roanoke.

The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge Seeks Community Input for Outstanding Excellence in the Arts Awards

David Hodge and John Antsey of the Anstey Hodge Advertising Group -- 2009 Business Supporter Recipients.

"The Wedding Singer" is bringing back the 80’s when it dances into the Roanoke Per-forming Arts Theatre for one performance only on Sunday, January 31 at 2 p.m. This musi-cal comedy will take audiences back to a time when pastel was in, hair was big and "the wed-ding singer was the coolest guy in the room."

Based on the hit film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Bar-rymore, The Wedding Singer is crammed with 80’s pop-culture and songs that have a similar sound to Bon Jovi and Heart.

Wannabe rock star Robbie Hart makes his living as New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer until he is left at the altar. Bro-ken-hearted, Robbie takes out his bitterness on stage. Every wedding he plays is a disaster until a charming waitress named Julia captures his affections. The only trouble is, Julia is engaged to a successful Wall Street bro-ker and unless Robbie can pull off the performance of his life-time, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Can he win her heart before she says "I Do" or will it be too late?

The 1998 film of The Wed-ding Singer grossed over $120 million nationwide. The Broad-

way musical opened in April of 2006, with music by Matthew Sklar, and book by Chad Beg-uelin and Tim Herlihy (former head-writer for “Saturday Night Live” and author of the original screenplay). It ran for 284 per-formances and was nominated for five Tony Awards (includ-ing Best Musical and Best Mu-sical Score); eight Drama Desk Awards (including Outstanding Musical, Music, and Lyrics); and three Drama League Awards. The Wedding Singer has gone on to tour the United States, U.K., Europe and Japan.

Starring in the lead roles of Robbie Hart and Julia are real life husband and wife J. Michael Zygo and Jillian Zygo. J. Michael Zygo has performed on previ-ous national tours as Rooster in Annie and as Will Parker on the first national tour of Oklahoma! Michael is also a singer/song-writer and has two full studio albums of country music with his band Zygo & The Deuce.

Jillian Zygo has performed with PEG on the national tour of Beehive the 60’s Musical, Fan-ny Brice (Funny Girl AriZoni Award Best Actress), Georgie in The Full Monty and Nancy (Ol-iver). Her tour/regional credits include Ado Annie (Oklahoma!

First National), Annie Oakley (Annie Get Your Gun), Kathy (The Last Five Years),Violet (Violet) and Ginger ( I Love A Piano national tour).

Director M. Seth Reines, a member of Actor’s Equity Asso-ciation, Society of Stage Direc-tors and Choreographers, has staged five world premieres in-cluding Monky Business, which has been produced in over 400 cities around the world. He has directed over 425 productions for stage and television includ-ing national tours of Sunday in the Park with George and South Pacific, working with such stars as Angela Lansbury, Chita Rive-ra, Oprah, Leslie Uggams, Jerry Herman, Tom Wopat, Peter Al-len, Emily Loesser and Sierra Boggess.

Tickets, starting at $27, are on sale at the Roanoke Civic Cen-ter Ticket Office, online at Roa-nokeCivicCenter.com. Group discounts are available.

Travel Back to the 80’s with “The Wedding Singer”

Front cover of “Birthright.”

River Laker and the Roanoke City library system are full of surprises. Not only will the li-brary stage “The Sneakerhead Show” Thursday night (Jan 21) – with pairs and pairs of sneakers on display – but also patrons can be on the lookout for a unique partnership with Studio Roanoke soon … Not to mention a golf course inside the library on Jefferson Street.

Beginning in March, the library will collaborate with Studio Roanoke, the off-off-off Broadway playhouse on Campbell for “Lunchtime Theater,” consisting of three five minute shows in the mez-zanine once a month, at least to start. That’s also where the popular Emerging Artists se-ries is held monthly. “Hope-fully we’ll expand it if it goes well,” said Laker, the library system’s development coordi-nator.

Studio Roanoke, owned by Kenley Smith, nurtures bud-ding playwrights by offering them a small space for read-ings or first stagings of new plays. Laker hopes to stage acting workshops at the li-brary as well. Laker and Stu-

dio Roanoke artistic director Todd Ristau announced the partnership in a video recent-ly. “I think it will help to raise the profile [for Studio Roa-noke],” said Laker. (Logistics and the time slot for the series could change in the next few months.)

Believe it or not Laker and several others are also in-stalling a portable nine-hole miniature golf course on the second floor of the library, us-ing a “book” theme that Laker is still working on for each

hole. They may create a public league once the course is up and running. That should be open to the public in the next few months. “We’ll take it out-side in the summer and have ice cream and bands. It’ll be a huge hit,” promises Laker, who enjoyed a great deal of local fame recently as the “Carless Brit,” after selling his car on a whim.

Come to the Library for Short Plays AND a Round of Golf


Roanoke City Library Development Coordinator River Laker.


We're more than just fried chicken for tailgating (although we do that

better than anyone else around). Our creative kitchen can customize a menu

for your business meeting, provide elegant and delicious appetizers for your parties as well as a breakfast

event to start the day off right.

The Country Store Deli Our catering will surprise you!

4717 Starkey Rd. Roanoke, VA 24018-8507 (540) 774-6875 [email protected]

Call your order in or place it online: www.countrystoredeli.com

Phase 1 and 2 Sold Out!Last Phase of Pheasant Ridge Now Available!

1 to 3 bedroom condominium units - 7 floor plans to chose from!

“Live the life you’ve dreamed...” ~Henry David Thoreau

There is no better time to buy - seller will offer $5,000 towards purchase!

4444 Pheasant Ridge Road,South West Roanoke

(Across Rt. 220 from Hunting Hills)www.pheasantridgecondos.com

• Private road with gated entrance• Underground parking, automatic garage door opener• Nine-foot ceilings / Ceramic Tiled Foyer • Crown moulding and chair rail in dining room• Master bedroom with huge walk-in closet • Master bath with double sink and walk-in shower • Kitchen furnished with top of line G.E. appliances • Gas heat/central air / Closet Organizers• Pre-wired for internet, cable TV and telephone • Views, location and quality!

this program is for all ages for more information: 540-853-2340

VALENTINES for ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL STATIONED

OVERSEAS

Drop in and “Make A Valentine” for our Virginia soldiers

Williamson Road LibraryWednesday Jan. 27

1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Resigning as Executive Direc-tor of the West End Center after 25 years on the job was one of the hardest decisions Kaye Hale has ever had to make. She did it, she said, with a lot of prayer and reliance on a God she trusts will lead her into further work help-ing people.

Hale, age 50 and a single par-ent, has been at West End in

Northwest Roanoke City for over half of her life.

She's seen the after-school program for disadvantaged in-ner city children and teens grow to its present 70 youngsters, who find the former restaurant and store buildings in the 1200 block of Patterson Avenue a fun and safe place to hang out Monday through Friday afternoons.

Eating a late lunch recently near her South County home, Hale reflected on her years at West End which, she said, have brought her into contact with countless wonderful people.

One is her permanent foster son David, a Patrick Henry High School student, who shares her home with Hale's biological son, Tanner, now 19 and preparing

to become a certified nursing as-sistant. Hale has fostered several other children she met through the center. "It's been my life," she said. "I can't just put it behind me."

However, two major factors led to her decision to move on, Hale said. One is the serious illness of both her parents who remain major figures in her life and that of her sons. Hale says "I don't ever want to regret that I didn't do everything I could for them."

Her father is terminally ill with Parkinson’s diseases and recently had to be admitted to Catawba Hospital. Her mother is now battling oral cancer and requires her daughter to help with treatments. Her two broth-ers also help from their homes in Rocky Mount, each pitching in with some of the transporta-tion and other needs.

The other reason for her sur-prise resignation: Her duties as a fund-raiser to just keep West End open had become heavier each year. It was taking more and more time from what she enjoyed - interaction with the center’s children and their fami-lies.

"We've had several financial crises over the years and this recession has dried up so many sources of our money," she ex-plained. "All non-profits are like that."

West End, Hale pointed out, now has a lot of supporters, in-

cluding some large businesses, from which money and in-kind gifts have come. The Center’s budget is about $600,000 a year. Food, furniture for the center's two buildings, parking lot and playground maintenance and even cheerful murals by local artist Polly Branch have helped make the center what it is. (The Center went through a make-over inside and out in 2009, capped off with a celebration last September.)

But as the center's services have grown, so have expenses. There are now nine paid people on the staff. Her successor has not been announced, so for the time-being Joy Parrish, associ-ate director, is keeping the pro-grams going.

Volunteers do much of the work around West End, with about 50 people tutoring chil-dren, to help build reading and other skills needed to succeed in school. With individual atten-tion to lessons three afternoons weekly, academic performance often rises dramatically, Hale noted. On afternoons when they are not tutored, children learn about good eating habits and personal health routines, which may not be taught in their homes.

Hale said the majority of children at West End still come from African-American house-holds and live in Northwest and the city's older Southwest neigh-borhoods. They are in grades from kindergarten through high school, with the median income of their households less than $17,000 a year. Many are being reared by a single working parent or grandparents, gener-ally women. About 75 percent of those enrolled are living be-low or only slightly above the poverty level.

This was evident even in 1979 when two old congregations around Thirteenth Street South-west, West End Presbyterian and West End United Method-ist, along with the now-extinct Mountain View Neighborhood Alliance, launched a small af-ter-school program in an old square-brick residence belong-ing to the Presbyterian Church.

Only about 20 children could be accommodated in a three-day weekly schedule.

By the time Hale was em-ployed in 1984 as director at $6,000 annually, West End's board had bought a restaurant building at Twelfth and Patter-son and gone to a five-day week from 2:15 to 6 p.m. Enrollment had risen to the present level of 70 children and more volunteers and money were needed, the former director recalled.

"I was supposed to work about 20 hours a week -- I had been working three jobs at once and that impressed the board -- but I soon saw it was about a 50-hour a week commitment," Hale said.

She grew up in Rocky Mount, earned a bachelor's degree in social work from Radford Uni-versity, but in the early 1980’s found few jobs open in her cho-sen field. So she waited tables, worked in a bar and also as a teen counselor at the former Lewis-Gale Psychiatric Center.

Reflecting on her years at West End, Hale said she would remember the satisfaction of working with two generations in several families. Girls whom the center helped find a better life 20 years ago are now send-ing their own children there. Records show that dropping out of school, teen pregnancies, substance abuse and teen crime show up far less in the center's long-time attendees. Kaye Hale will always be proud of that.

After 25 Years Hale to Step Down at West End Center

Photo by Gene Marrano

Two West End after school students help paint the center.

By Frances [email protected]

“”

I am the slowest carpet cleaner in Roanoke.

WilliamsCarpet Cleaning

I will give your carpet the time and attention it deserves to produce the best results possible.

2 rooms and a hall for $755 rooms and a hall for $155

Furniture cleaning also available!

Danny Williams989-1825

The Roanoke Star-Sentinel

Documents

Transcript of The Roanoke Star-Sentinel